Spring-locking slider for zipper fasteners



Jan. 1, 1963 o. J. HUELSTER SPRING-LOCKING SL'IDER FOR ZIPPER FASTENERSFiled Jan. 5, 1962 as A INVENTOR 0')- 1'0 1 Huelsl'er ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent ()fihce Patented Jan. 1, 1963 Tidy/6,865 SPRlNG-LUCKENGSHEER FOR ZIPPER FASTENERS @tto It. Huelster, Lake Piymouth, Plymouth,gonna, as-

signor to Scovill Manufacturing (lompany, Waterbury, Qonn, a corporationof Connecticut Filed Jan. 5, 1962, Seer. No. 164,440 3 Claims. (Ci.24-2tl5.14)

My invention is an improved spring-locking slider for zipper fasteners.

it is desirable to make automatic or spring-locking sliders of theminimum number of pieces and a threepiece locking slider generally meansthe slider body, the locking member and the pull tab.

Several attempts have been made along this line but the results havebeen only partially successful. A long spring member is objectionablebecause of the amount of material required and the unsightly appearanceof a long section of the spring material, which is usually of stainlesssteel, contrasting with the metal of the slider body. Furthermore, thereis more likelihood of damage to a long spring or in fact, any springwhich is not sufficiently protected. Some short springs have beenproposed which were partially concealed but the resulting product wasdiflicult to make and expensive to assemble because it was required tobe attached to the inner surface of the slider Wing before the sliderbody was bent to final shape.

T he object of my invention, therefore, is to provide an improvedthree-piece spring-locking slider overcoming the above drawbacks andhaving in combination all the desirable features of such a slider. Thespring itself is short and economical to manufacture; it is concealedexcept for an arched bridge engaged by the pull tab; it has comparativeeasy action, yet reliable to accomplish its purpose. The spring is wellprotected against outside blows or pressure and finally, it is easy andtherefore, economical to assemble.

The spring is held or anchored in position by means of a loop portion atone end of the spring having lateral ears that fit into channelsextending outwardly from an opening in the slider wing. it can thus beassembled from the outside after the slider body has been bent up toshape, whereupon it is only necessary to force a lug formed from thewing material downwardly against the spring loop. Also, a force in anupward direction, that is, toward the neck end of the slider, isimparted to the spring by means of a tongue struck out of the loopmaterial with the free end of the tongue bearing against an abutmentprojecting into the wing opening.

In the accompanying drawing, I have shown for purpose of illustration,one embodiment which my invention may assume in practice. In thedrawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of my improved lock slider;

FIG. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view showing the pull tab andlocking member in slider-locked position;

FIG. 3 is a similar view of the upper portion of the slider showing theparts in unlocked position;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective View of the three parts of the sliderbefore assembly; and,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a slider as it appears attached to a Zipperfastener.

In FIG. 5, my improved slider is shown attached to a zipper fastenerwhich may be of any well-known type having a pair of fabric tapescarrying rows of complemental fastener elements or scoops 11.

T he slider body, generally indicated by the numeral 12, is preferablyof the type that can be made of sheet metal and consists of a front wing13, a back wing 14, connected together by a hollow neck portion 15. Eachwing has inwardly directed flanges 16 and 17 which together with theneck define a Y-shaped channel through which the fastener elements 11pass during opening or closing of the zipper.

in describing the detailed features of the slider and in the use of theterms upper and lower, it is to be understood that the term upperapplies to that end having the neck portion of the slider, and the termlower will apply to the opposite or open end of the slider. The frontwing 13 is formed with transversely extending upper and lower spacedopenings 18 and 19, respectively, with a bridge 20 of wing materialtherebetween. From the openings 18 and 19 are formed upper and lowerlugs 21 and 22 struck outwardly from the front wing material andintegral with said wing material on that side of each opening oppositesaid bridge 20. The lugs 21 and 22 may be generally S-shaped in contourand are adapted to overlie the openings 18 and 19, respectively to someextent. The lugs 21 and 22 are first made to extend at a more uprightangle as indicated in dotted line in FIG. 2 for reasons as will appearlater.

A locking member 23 is provided preferably made of a strip of flatspring metal and formed with a central arched portion 24 and a U-shapedloop section extending under the upper lug 21. The loop section as shownin FIG. 4 is preferably two loops 25 and 26 extending parallel to eachother and disconnected at their free ends. The inner end of said loopsextend into the upper opening 18 and side extensions of these loopsprovide laterally extending ears 27. The ears are adapted to fit intolateral channels 28 extending outwardly from the side walls of the upperopening, which channels extend completely through the thickness of theupper wing material.

From the stock that originally existed between the loops 25 and 26 isformed an inwardly-extending spring tongue 29 preferably slightlytapering toward its free end. The free end of the tongue 29 is adaptedto bear against an upwardly facing incl ned wall or abutment 36)projecting into the upper opening 18 from the bridge 20. When initiallyassembled, this tongue is under tension even in the locked positionshown in FIG. 2. It is to be noted that the upper section of the loops25 and 26 bear against the underside of the upper lug 21, and by reasonof the stressed condition of the spring tongue, the inner edges of thecars 27 will be forced into abutting engagement with the adjacent wallsof the lateral channels 28, thus establishing a three-point contact forthat end of the locking member 23 in anchoring the same to the upperwing 13.

The opposite or lower end of the locking member is provided with anextension 31 projecting through the lower opening 19 and terminating ina locking pin 32 with a shoulder 33 between said pin and arched portion24. Because of the stressed condition of the spring tongue 29 asdescribed above, the shoulder 33 is normally held down against a ledge34 extending into the lower opening 19 and forming a part of the bridge20, or in other words, in locked position as shown in H6. 2.

A pull tab 35 is provided that maybe of any desired shape, but it isusually a rectangular piece of heavy sheet metal having a piercing 36adjacent one end, resulting in bifurcations 38 connected together at oneend of the tab by a through-and-through pintle 39 extending under thelocking member arch 24 and confined thereby in the space between thearch 24 and bridge 20.

In the assembly of my three-piece locking slider, the lugs 21 and 22 areinitially disposed in the dotted line position of FIG. 2. The pull tabwill first be laid against the upper surface of the front wing 13 withthe pintle 39 resting on the bridge 20. The locking member 23 will thenbe dropped into position from above and with suitable tools. the lugs 21and 22 will be forced downwardly to the full line position, wherein theupper lug 21 will contact the upper section of the loops 25 and 26,forcing that end of the locking member downwardly to a position wherethe spring tongue 2? will contact and be biased outwardly by theinclined wall 36', thus establishing a threepoint contact for anchoringthe locking member as described above and at the same time, impartingtensional stress to said locking member, particularly to the springtongue.

It is to be noted that the upper surfaces of the lugs 21 and 22 aresubstantially on a level with the spring central arched portion 24 whichis for the purpose of protecting said locking member against anycrushing force from above, such as might occur during ironing. Theposition and shape of the lower lug 22 is such as to overlie the springmember shoulder 33 and serve as a stop when the spring is pulled to itsunlocked position such as shown in FIG. 3.

While I have shown and. described one embodiment which my invention mayassume in practice, it is to be understood that this embodiment ismerely for the purpose of illustration and description, and that variousother forms may be devised within the scope of my invention as definedin the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A three-piece spiing locking slider for zipper fasteners comprising:

(a) a slider body having front and back wings joined together at one endbya neck so as to provide a -shaped channel between them, said frontwing having transversely extending upper and lower spaced openings witha bridge of wing material between them; said upper opening havingportions constituting laterally extending channels;

(3 upstanding upper and lower lugs struck up from the material of saidfront wing, one on the side of each opening opposite said bridge, saidlugs extending also over said openings toward each other;

(c) a locking member of spring metal positioned over said bridge andhaving a central arched portion between said lugs, a U-shaped loopsection extending under the upper lug and with the inner portion of saidloop extending into said upper opening, an extension at the lower end ofsaid arched portion ex tending through the lower opening and providing alocking pin movable into and out of the slider channel with a shoulderbetween said pin and arch, said lower lug ext-ending over said shoulderto limit outward movement of said locking member;

(at) ears on the inner portion of said U-shaped loop section projectinginto the lateral channels of said upper opening with their upper edgesbearing against the adjacent walls of said channels;

(e) an inwardly extending spring tongue projecting through said U-shapedloop section and having its free end bearing against an upwardly facingwall of said upper opening, said upper lug bearing against the outersurface or" said U-shaped loop section to confine the upper end of saidlocking member with the spring tongue under tension; and,

(f) a pull tab having a pintle extending under said arched portion andconfined thereby in the space between said arched portion and saidbridge, whereby outward force exerted on the pull tab will move thelocking pin out of the slider channel against the spring action of saidspring tongue.

2. A slider as defined in claim 1 wherein said loop section is twoparallel-spaced loops and wherein said spring tongue extends downwardlybetween said loops.

3. A slider as defined in claim 1 wherein that portion of the upwardlyfacing wall of the upper opening against which the spring tongue bears,is inclined.

No references cited.

1. A THREE-PIECE SPRING-LOCKING SLIDER FOR ZIPPER FASTENERS COMPRISING:(A) A SLIDER BODY HAVING FRONT AND BACK WINGS JOINED TOGETHER AT ONE ENDBY A NECK SO AS TO PROVIDE A Y-SHAPED CHANNEL BETWEEN THEM, SAID FRONTWING HAVING TRANSVERSELY EXTENDING UPPER AND LOWER SPACED OPENINGS WITHA BRIDGE OF WING MATERIAL BETWEEN THEM; SAID UPPER OPENING HAVINGPORTIONS CONSTITUTING LATERALLY EXTENDING CHANNELS; (B) UPSTANDING UPPERAND LOWER LUGS STRUCK UP FROM THE MATERIAL OF SAID FRONT WING, ONE ONTHE SIDE OF EACH OPENING OPPOSITE SAID BRIDGE, SAID LUGS EXTENDING ALSOOVER SAID OPENINGS TOWARD EACH OTHER; (C) A LOCKING MEMBER OF SPRINGMETAL POSITIONED OVER SAID BRIDGE AND HAVING A CENTRAL ARCHED PORTIONBETWEEN SAID LUGS, A U-SHAPED LOOP SECTION EXTENDING UNDER THE UPPER LUGAND WITH THE INNER PORTION OF SAID LOOP EXTENDING INTO SAID UPPEROPENING, AN EXTENSION AT THE LOWER END OF SAID ARCHED PORTION EXTENDINGTHROUGH THE LOWER OPENING AND PROVIDING A LOCKING PIN MOVABLE INTO ANDOUT OF THE SLIDER CHANNEL WITH A SHOULDER BETWEEN SAID PIN AND ARCH,SAID LOWER LUG EXTENDING OVER SAID SHOULDER TO LIMIT OUTWARD MOVEMENT OFSAID LOCKING MEMBER; (D) EARS ON THE INNER PORTION OF SAID U-SHAPED LOOPSECTION PROJECTING INTO THE LATERAL CHANNELS OF SAID UPPER OPENING WITHTHEIR UPPER EDGES BEARING AGAINST THE ADJACENT WALLS OF SAID CHANNELS;(E) AN INWARDLY EXTENDING SPRING TONGUE PROJECTING THROUGH SAID U-SHAPEDLOOP SECTION AND HAVING ITS FREE END BEARING AGAINST AN UPWARDLY FACINGWALL OF SAID UPPER OPENING, SAID UPPER LUG BEARING AGAINST THE OUTERSURFACE OF SAID U-SHAPED LOOP SECTION TO CONFINE THE UPPER END OF SAIDLOCKING MEMBER WITH THE SPRING TONGUE UNDER TENSION; AND, (F) A PULL TABHAVING A PINTLE EXTENDING UNDER SAID ARCHED PORTION AND CONFINED THEREBYIN THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID ARCHED PORTION AND SAID BRIDGE, WHEREBYOUTWARD FORCE EXERTED ON THE PULL TAB WILL MOVE THE LOCKING PIN OUT OFTHE SLIDER CHANNEL AGAINST THE SPRING ACTION OF SAID SPRING TONGUE.